Border Agents Working… Pay Uncertain

Fallout from the Congressional budget crisis affects local Federal workers.

Border Patrol agents are showing up to work, but their paychecks are in limbo.

It all has to do with the government shutdown, and now, agents are worried about their livelihoods.

As long as the shutdown continues, it looks like agents won’t know when of if their next paycheck is coming, but because they’re considered “essential personnel”, they still have to show up to work.

There are some “non-essential personnel”, like maintenance staff, that have been furloughed while the shutdown continues.

Many agents are looking at second jobs just so they can make their monthly bills in case the shutdown drags on.

Union Representative Chris Cabrera tells us the hardest part for the agents is planning because they really haven’t gotten any answers about their pay, and they really don’t know what’s going on.

“You just don’t know where your paycheck is coming from, if it’s coming, when it’s coming. And I think we all understand that eventually, it will catch up, it will get there, but in the meantime, you’re going to have late payments. You’re going to have a lot of agents in financial trouble,” he says.